Dye substitute



UNITED STATES ear/ear OFFICE.

ALBERT L. CLAPP, OF MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE METALITE COMPANY, OF AMESB'URY, LIASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE,

DYE SUBSTITUTE.

No Drawing.

T 0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT L. CLAPP, a citizen of the United tates, and resident of Marblehead, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Dye Substitutes, of which the following description is a specification.

My present invention is to provide a substitute for anilin and other d es in certain of the arts, particularly paper manufactures, and one of the objects of the invention is to eliminate entirely the necessity for use of dye or to enable only a relatively small amount of dye to do the work of a larger quantity. Owing to the great expense of dyestuffs at the present time, well as to the actual scarcity of the supply, it has become extremely difficult to maintain the manufacture of many lines of commercial articles. I have invented a suhstance for effecting the colorin and tinting of paper or paper pulp in a large variety of shades from amber to a deep brown en tirely without the use of ordinary dyestconstituting a complete substitute therefor, so far as these shades are concerned. For additional colors, such as red, yellow, etc, I am enabled to utilize the substance of my present invention together with comparz tively slight amounts of dyest-uif to secure the desired colors, the substitute and the process of its use thus effecting a great saving in expense and amount of dye necessary for said colors.

My substitute consists in a leather solu tion which may be made thick or thin, as desired, and applied directly in the beater making paper pulp, sufiicient quantity of the leather solution being employed to secure the desired shade of color. This solution is capable of taking the place entirely of the ordinary dyestuffs of commerce in various grades of paper manufacture where the color of the product ranges from an amber shade to a deep brown. In making this solution of leather a variety of ingredients may be employed, but I have found eX- cellent results from the following mixture, 2'. 6. one hundred pounds of scrap sole leather dissolved in a solution of one thousand quarts of water with fifteen pounds of caustic soda (or potash). The mixture will be cooked anywhere from two to five hours until the leather is dissolved by the caustic soda. The water ingredi nt may be added Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 20, 1915.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Serial No. 67,750.

to or detracted from to make the leather solution thicker or thinner, as desired. A sufiicient quantity of this solution is poured directly into the beater engine and mixed therein with the pulp from which the paper is subsequently made. Together with the proper proportion of leather solution I apply a small quantity of alum to set the color. although this is entirely-optional and in making many of the-tints from amber to deep brown the leather solution alone may be employed. The ordinary beater charge in paper manufacture is approximately one thousand pounds, and to such a heater charge I find that the admixture of about ten gallons of the leather solution above described will produce a light amber tint. The addition of seventy-five to one hundred gallons of the solution to a heater charge will produce a dark, deep brown color, securing a satisfactory brown colored paper product from the beater charge thus tinted. All intervening shades, from amber to deep brown, may thus be secured by the application of suitable quantities of the leather solution, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. This solution, therefore, takes the place entirely of dye heretofore used for the shades just mentioned and furthermore said solution is inexpensive, mixes freely and thoroughly with the paper pulp, impregnating the entire mass of the beater charge in a few moments and effecting a complete union in the pulp.

I have also discovered that the leather solution above described may be advantageously employed as a foundation or base for the partial substitution of red and yellow dyes, the application of a comparatively small amount of dye with the leather solution producing the various grades of colored paper heretofore made solely by the use of dyestuffs. In making red colors, for ex ample, I find that the employment of the leather solution above described, together wi h one or two ounces of a red dye,fuchsine will color substantially the same quantity and approximately of the same shade as three times the amount of dye without the addition of my leather solution. Thus in light red tints I add ten gallons of my leather solution and one ounce of fuchsine, and obtain a light red tint in the paper product. Ten gallons of leather solution and two ounces of fuchsine will produce a deeper red, and this may be varied in like pro ortions as desired.

or a yellow product I may utilize any suitable dye or coloring matter, for example phosphine, also known as leather yellow, one of the acridin dyes made up principally of chrysanilin, an unsymmetrical diaminophenylacridin. Ten gallonsof the leather solution and a quarter of a pound of phosphine may be used, Which Will produce the same tint and'for the same quantity as that of tWo pounds of phosphine, thus effecting a saving of from eightyfive to ninety per cent. of the dyestufi used.

As above stated, by adding certain dyes or pigments to my leather solution a great variety of colors may be produced according to the dye or pigment used. Thus different shades of red will be produced by adding to my leather solution red pigment or oxid pf iron, Turkey-red, red ocher, etc., While the addition of lampblack will. produce a very dark red. The addition of chlorid of tin when used to color leather, While the other 7 dyesinentloned give equally good results "whether used for dyeing leather or'fabrics.

lVhile the leather solution herein descrlbedisespeciallyintended for use in coloring fiber, pulp products, paper, etc., I

V have also round that it is equally advantageous foruse in coloring leather itself. Such minor changes as necessaryto use the leather solution above exemplified, in applying the same to fabric or to leather, will readily ocour to those skilled in the art.

A further advantage I have discovered in the use of the leather solution is that the employment or the same in paper manufacture seems to greatly strengthen the paper because of the presence of the strong leather fibers, and the tannic acid found in the leather scraps. The resulting paper product therefore runs rnuch ,evener in the paper making machines, requires less or but little sulfite. V p 7 My invention is further described and defined in the form of claim as follows:

A dye substitute for dyeing fabrics, pulp products, paper, leather, or the like, consisting of leather dissolved in a hot aqueous solution of causticvsooa, substantially in the proportions of '100 pounds ofleather, 15

pounds of, caustic soda,

Water.v V

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence or two subscribing Witnesses.

' ALBERTL. CLAPP.

and 1000 quarts of lVitnesses James R. Hononn, HARoLD G; 'CLARKK 

